Metrics in motion: Exploring water in Arc

Water is a limited resource, and typically most of a building’s water cycles through the building and off site as wastewater. This pass-through system reduces stream flow in rivers and depletes freshwater aquifers, causing water tables to drop and wells to go dry. By collecting, managing and benchmarking performance data related to water use, buildings and portfolios using Arc have a clear picture of how water strategies are affecting performance.

Explore how water use is tracked and analyzed through Arc, helping buildings and portfolios conserve and more efficiently use this important resource.

The Water metric in Arc

A building’s water performance in Arc is based on consumption in standard water quantities (gal, kgal, ccf) and reflects a building’s water efficiency as a score between 0 and 100. Lower consumption overall is reflected in a higher water score. If a building has a water score of 100, it means the building has net zero water consumption.

Arc recalculates the water score every day to account for the most recent 365 days of information, which means it directly reflects the building’s activities and strategies that have been implemented.

One method to help address water use is using reclaimed water on site. Such programs can play a key role in reducing consumption from the grid, helping to recharge aquifers and minimizing impacts from runoff. Reclaimed water on site can be entered into Arc as a reclaimed water meter to capture its reuse, replacing water that would have been drawn from the grid.

The power of analytics

Through its powerful analytics, Arc helps teams better understand water usage. The platform shows water consumption per occupant and per square foot, giving teams more insight into the performance and impact of their decisions.

As with Energy and the other metric categories, Arc provides local and regional average scores for water. This allows teams to compare performance to other buildings, across a portfolio, in a state or province within the country, or globally.

This transparency fuels competition and identifies high performers and opportunities for improvement. This becomes especially valuable when building owners and managers want to demonstrate progress to investors, tenants and other stakeholders.

If your building is LEED-certified, it is already in Arc. Log into the platform at arcskoru.com using your USGBC login information or contact us at Arc to see your score and start tracking today.